Inside The Bills

He’s had enough. Bills LB Kelvin Sheppard said he was embarrassed and sickened by the team’s performance in the loss to Tennessee a couple of weeks ago.

Wednesday night on the The John Murphy Show, Sheppard talked at length about the Bills struggles to stop the run. They’re currently ranked 32nd in the league in rushing defense. And the problem, Sheppard said on the radio show, is that the Bills give up one huge play on the ground to their opponents, after shutting down their run on earlier plays.

“We go out and we look on film, and Coach Wannstedt does a great job, his scheme is a great scheme,” Sheppard told John Murphy. “He shows we go out for ten straight plays, in the same defense and Tennessee’s running the same offensive plays—and we nail it—for a loss or a one or two yard gain. And then you see on that 11th play, the same scheme is called, the same blocking scheme, the same running play, and one guy gets out of their gap.”

Sheppard was referring specifically to Chris Johnson’s 83-yard touchdown run against the Bills.

“The thing is trying to instill in everybody to be gap sound and attacking on a consistent basis,” he said, “It makes no sense to go out and do it for ten straight plays, and then on the 11th play, you give up an 80-yarder. I think that’s the biggest thing that’s hurting us right now.”

Sheppard is looking for a different mindset for the Bills this week as they prepare for their first game after the bye. He wants the Bills defense to be determined to shut down the Houston Texans running attack and come home with a victory.

“I feel like there’s no better way than to go down to the number one team in your conference, and probably one of the hottest teams in the NFL right now, to go down to their stadium, to a hostile environment, and not accept losing. We’re going to Houston, and nobody’s boarding the plane unless we win. To go down there with that mindset would be tremendous.”